A reader sent me this wonderful quote from Katherine May in her book 'Wintering'. I'd love to share as it expresses perfectly what this is about.
"life is, by its very nature, uncontrollable...we should stop trying to finalise our comfort and security, and instead find a radical acceptance of the endless, unpredictable change that is the very essence of this life. Our suffering...comes from the fight we put up against this fundamental truth. In our relentlessly busy contemporary world, we are forever trying to defer the onset of winter. We don’t ever dare to feel its full bite, and we don’t dare to show the way that it ravages us. We must stop believing that these times in our lives are somehow silly, a failure of nerve, a lack of willpower. We must stop trying to ignore them or dispose of them. They are real, and they are asking something of us. We must learn to invite the winter in. We may never choose to winter, but we can choose how."
I would say this: being ill with something like the flu is like being drunk. You think you can think clearly, but you can't. I say just lie there in a cozy puddle of misery feeling sorry for yourself. Trust that sometime soon you will wake up with a whole new attitude. I'm not being sarcastic. And I do hope whatever you have is over sooner than later!
Thank you Nancy. I am definitely through the worst now and gaining some much needed perspective. Whenever I get ill I tend to think it's just physical, when actually the impact is also mental. While it's amazing to stop feeling sick/in pain, it is wonderful to be able to think a little more clearly.
I'm a typical bloke when I get sick - a complete misery-guts, convinced that I will never be well again. As soon as I feel better, I'm convinced that I'll never get sick ever again. Magical thinking - gotta love it.
I can't imagine what it is like to write with a disability or chronic illness, where pain or ill-health are always, always dragging you down. More power to the people who can do that.
Hope you are back on your feet soon. In the meantime, here is my favourite short video of a writer at work.
McEwan, Stacey. 2021. Uhm How’s That Book Going, Stace? Tiktok. [57 sec video, starts automatically]
Hey Jonathan. I love that video - we all have tiny crocodiles on our back stopping us writing!
Illness makes me so solipsistic. I suppose it is a survival mechanism, but ultimately selfish. One thing I want to hold on to as I get better is a sense of empathy for others. Flu passes - not everyone has that. I need to be kind to myself to get better, but really I need to be kinder and more understanding to others.
Late to this and see you’re feeling better! 😀 But actually you’re right — it is a survival mechanism. The microglia in your brain (part of the brain’s immune system) change in response to a virus. Their effect is to force you into bed so that you use your energy to recover and, more importantly, don’t go running around infecting others. It’s an evolutionary act to protect communities from a time when we had no treatments or understanding except quarantine. (Our treatments still have a long way to go aside from pneumonia vaccines.) Microglia keep others safe from the virus we’re battling. Good on you that you rested in the way your brain’s immune system wanted!! With ability to work from home now, I wish people would listen to their microglia, stay home, and stop spreading flu, cold, COVID, RSV, pneumonia, etc! Microglia: smarter than humans. That’s my grumpy take on it! 😡👀🙂
Shireen - I love this! I'd not heard of microglia before (cue internet research rabbit hole) but am pleased to know that they exist and are not only helping me to rest and recover but keeping others safe too!
☺️ I wrote about microglia on my what-brain-injury-is web page and included a cool video of microglia in assassin mode. It’s amazing what modern tech can show us. If you want to learn even more, I recommend the book The Angel and The Assassin. I learnt so much about microglia etc from it. Glad this info helped!
I’m having the same week. I’ve just started a research sabbatical and all fired up but haven’t been able to string two thoughts together after going down with a cough and throat lurgy on Sunday. I’m submitting to what my body needs. Wrapping up, resting, sipping lemsips like tea, nursing headaches and shivers. I’m doing what work I can. Drafting my first Substack post and revising The Research Writing Plan as I go. I feel slightly anxious about hitting deadlines but feel sure my brain while semi- dormant fighting antibodies will perform some of that mysterious latent development work that is so essential for my writing work. Get well ❤️🩹 soon! ✨
Sarah - I am so sorry to hear this. And also, why does this always happen?!
I love the idea that while you are taking care of your body in all the right ways, there is a parallel writing immune system that is quietly working away on your research idea.
I often talk about the stages of writing, from ideation to incubation, then creation and editing. You are incubating! See this hastily googled definition: "In science, incubation is a process of development. An incubation period is when a disease takes hold and produces symptoms" Here's to incubating ideas while our bodies fight symptoms ❤️🩹
What a beautiful quote from Maria ✨ My heart is with you. I have had a few health set backs in recent years and they have shown me two things: we know what our work is here to do and there is no rush. It will get done when it’s time, and often that will be all in a quick deluge when the time is right. And then there are times when we have too much silence and quiet on our hands, all that is the time the earth or the universe or our ancestors or whomever is here helping us is drawing us close, whispering things we can lean into hear. I am with you in the sick bed! Sending patience and grace, comforts and friends. May the end of suffering be the end of self blame. May we tend those longer threads of grace…
It's a stunning quote from Maria - but also, how beautiful is your comment?! Your words of wisdom are exactly what I needed to hear - thank you for sharing ❤️
A reader sent me this wonderful quote from Katherine May in her book 'Wintering'. I'd love to share as it expresses perfectly what this is about.
"life is, by its very nature, uncontrollable...we should stop trying to finalise our comfort and security, and instead find a radical acceptance of the endless, unpredictable change that is the very essence of this life. Our suffering...comes from the fight we put up against this fundamental truth. In our relentlessly busy contemporary world, we are forever trying to defer the onset of winter. We don’t ever dare to feel its full bite, and we don’t dare to show the way that it ravages us. We must stop believing that these times in our lives are somehow silly, a failure of nerve, a lack of willpower. We must stop trying to ignore them or dispose of them. They are real, and they are asking something of us. We must learn to invite the winter in. We may never choose to winter, but we can choose how."
I would say this: being ill with something like the flu is like being drunk. You think you can think clearly, but you can't. I say just lie there in a cozy puddle of misery feeling sorry for yourself. Trust that sometime soon you will wake up with a whole new attitude. I'm not being sarcastic. And I do hope whatever you have is over sooner than later!
Thank you Nancy. I am definitely through the worst now and gaining some much needed perspective. Whenever I get ill I tend to think it's just physical, when actually the impact is also mental. While it's amazing to stop feeling sick/in pain, it is wonderful to be able to think a little more clearly.
I'm a typical bloke when I get sick - a complete misery-guts, convinced that I will never be well again. As soon as I feel better, I'm convinced that I'll never get sick ever again. Magical thinking - gotta love it.
I can't imagine what it is like to write with a disability or chronic illness, where pain or ill-health are always, always dragging you down. More power to the people who can do that.
Hope you are back on your feet soon. In the meantime, here is my favourite short video of a writer at work.
McEwan, Stacey. 2021. Uhm How’s That Book Going, Stace? Tiktok. [57 sec video, starts automatically]
https://www.tiktok.com/@stacebookspace/video/6967457297433906434
[Stacey has since finished that book, which I enjoyed, and finished the whole trilogy, by the looks of it.]
Hey Jonathan. I love that video - we all have tiny crocodiles on our back stopping us writing!
Illness makes me so solipsistic. I suppose it is a survival mechanism, but ultimately selfish. One thing I want to hold on to as I get better is a sense of empathy for others. Flu passes - not everyone has that. I need to be kind to myself to get better, but really I need to be kinder and more understanding to others.
Late to this and see you’re feeling better! 😀 But actually you’re right — it is a survival mechanism. The microglia in your brain (part of the brain’s immune system) change in response to a virus. Their effect is to force you into bed so that you use your energy to recover and, more importantly, don’t go running around infecting others. It’s an evolutionary act to protect communities from a time when we had no treatments or understanding except quarantine. (Our treatments still have a long way to go aside from pneumonia vaccines.) Microglia keep others safe from the virus we’re battling. Good on you that you rested in the way your brain’s immune system wanted!! With ability to work from home now, I wish people would listen to their microglia, stay home, and stop spreading flu, cold, COVID, RSV, pneumonia, etc! Microglia: smarter than humans. That’s my grumpy take on it! 😡👀🙂
Shireen - I love this! I'd not heard of microglia before (cue internet research rabbit hole) but am pleased to know that they exist and are not only helping me to rest and recover but keeping others safe too!
☺️ I wrote about microglia on my what-brain-injury-is web page and included a cool video of microglia in assassin mode. It’s amazing what modern tech can show us. If you want to learn even more, I recommend the book The Angel and The Assassin. I learnt so much about microglia etc from it. Glad this info helped!
Trust that this will pass and in no time at all, you will have it all behind you. Sending you a warm hug from a rainy PNW :)
Thank you Rachel - you are right. The sun has come out here in Yorkshire this morning which is helping my recovery no end.
I’m having the same week. I’ve just started a research sabbatical and all fired up but haven’t been able to string two thoughts together after going down with a cough and throat lurgy on Sunday. I’m submitting to what my body needs. Wrapping up, resting, sipping lemsips like tea, nursing headaches and shivers. I’m doing what work I can. Drafting my first Substack post and revising The Research Writing Plan as I go. I feel slightly anxious about hitting deadlines but feel sure my brain while semi- dormant fighting antibodies will perform some of that mysterious latent development work that is so essential for my writing work. Get well ❤️🩹 soon! ✨
Sarah - I am so sorry to hear this. And also, why does this always happen?!
I love the idea that while you are taking care of your body in all the right ways, there is a parallel writing immune system that is quietly working away on your research idea.
I often talk about the stages of writing, from ideation to incubation, then creation and editing. You are incubating! See this hastily googled definition: "In science, incubation is a process of development. An incubation period is when a disease takes hold and produces symptoms" Here's to incubating ideas while our bodies fight symptoms ❤️🩹
yes! incubating! love it. here's to that and getting back to writing soon. :)
What a beautiful quote from Maria ✨ My heart is with you. I have had a few health set backs in recent years and they have shown me two things: we know what our work is here to do and there is no rush. It will get done when it’s time, and often that will be all in a quick deluge when the time is right. And then there are times when we have too much silence and quiet on our hands, all that is the time the earth or the universe or our ancestors or whomever is here helping us is drawing us close, whispering things we can lean into hear. I am with you in the sick bed! Sending patience and grace, comforts and friends. May the end of suffering be the end of self blame. May we tend those longer threads of grace…
It's a stunning quote from Maria - but also, how beautiful is your comment?! Your words of wisdom are exactly what I needed to hear - thank you for sharing ❤️
Awww so glad! 🫶🏽